BIOGRAPHY
Born in Dunfermline in 1948, Elizabeth Hancock lived in what is now Zimbabwe from the age of four until her return to Britain in 1983.
She was educated at the University College of Rhodesia (London), graduating in 1969.

Her early artistic career involved participating in exhibitions organized by the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, and commissions for private and commercial clients including exhibitors at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fairs in the late nineteen-seventies and early eighties. For a short time she also worked in commercial advertising.

Since her return to Britain, as well as an extended period in teaching, the artist has exhibited regularly and ran her own gallery in Cheshire before relocating to Wales in 2002.

Images of her work are carried by the Women's Art Library, a significant archive of national and international women artists, past and present. Seven pieces of her work were selected to represent the library in a proposed promotional project. Regrettably the project was abandoned thro' difficulties with the contracting company, and later restructuring of the Library. As well as in the United Kingdom, the artist's work has been purchased by collectors from the USA, Germany, Japan and of course Zimbabwe. The artist lives and works in Llanfair Caereinion.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT
There being no provision for formal art education in the country in which I lived, I am primarily self-taught, although for his support and advice in my early years, I am indebted to Christopher Till, then Director of the Zimbabwe/Rhodesia National Gallery, later Director of the National Gallery in South Africa and now Director of the Museum of Apartheid in that country.

In recent years my painting has focused on an exploration of abstraction, in an attempt to capture what Kandinsky called the 'inner sound of the picture' .Colour plays a key role, and I work intuitively, addicted to the sensuous dramas that can ensue from its manipulation.

Drawings, monoprints and collages may be more figurative and/or issue-based, but on the whole my work is about interconnectedness at every level. The stunning landscapes of mid- and west Wales, are my major inspiration, but the influence of the first half of my life spent in Africa has also left an indelible mark.